Friday, September 20, 2013

Trumpeter Howard McGhee’s Endless Journey into the Worcester Night

Trumpeter
Howard McGhee was one of the first black jazz musicians accepted into an
all-white big band, but he was denied admittance to hotels here in Worcester.

The year
was 1942. He was touring with the Charlie Barnet Orchestra. The band was booked
for a three-night stay at the Plymouth Theater on Main Street.

It was at
the height of the big band-era, a world war was on, and unfortunately, Jim Crow
and its racist practices still prevailed throughout the country.

It should
be noted that although Worcester has a proud history of civil
rights advocacy that reaches back to the days of the Abolitionists, it also is
a place that held KKK rallies well into the 20th Century.

Also, according to the 1940 U.S. Census, Worcester was a city with a population of 193,694 and less than 10 percent of its people were of color.

A note on
McGhee: He was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1918 and raised in Detroit. Nicknamed “Maggie” before taking
the Barnet gig, he worked with Lionel Hampton, Andy Kirk, and Count Basie. He
later came to prominence, along with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and
Charlie Parker as one of the architects of a revolutionary new music called
Bebop. Drug problems plagued the trumpeter’s life throughout his promising
career. McGhee died in New York in 1987.

The
incident in Worcester was documented in the book Jazz
Notes: Interviews Across the Generations by Sanford Josephson, who set up
his conversation by saying. “Being the only black member of an all-white band
left its mark on McGhee. It opened his eyes to a world that was crueler than he
ever could have imagined.”

The
interview was conducted sometime in the 1980s. Josephson said that the episode
had a profound effect on him, adding, “He tried to gloss over some of the
anguish he experienced, but the hurt still managed to break through.”

The
trumpeter himself recounts the tale: “One time we were up in Worcester, Massachusetts. Now, it ain’t prejudiced up
there, you know,” he said, ‘reflecting a slight tinge of mockery’ – [Josephson's comment]. “I went to the hotel expecting to get a room like everybody else, but
they said I had no reservation, and I couldn’t stay there.

“We were
going to be there four days and I figure I have to have a place to sleep.
Everybody else was checked into the hotel, so that was kind of a heavy blow,
you know what I mean? It was a drag for me to have to walk all night looking
for someplace to sleep.”

In the 1942 edition of the Worcester Directory, 40 hotels are listed, many were concentrated in the downtown area within walking distance of the theater.

At the
time, Barnet was a popular bandleader who had played in the Worcester area for years. He made frequent
stops at local ballrooms, theaters, and the Worcester Auditorium. Hits like “Skyliner,” kept him in good standing on the touring circuit for a number of
years.

Joesphson
says, that the first thing McGhee did after being refused a room was to ask a
cab driver if any colored people lived in town. McGhee continued, “He said, ‘Yeah,
there’s one or two live around here somewhere.’

“He
started scratching his head and all that kind of stuff. So I said, ‘You know
where they are?’ And he said, ‘Well, we might find them.’ Finally, he got the
right information and took me. That’s the only place I could find a place to
sleep. What else could I do? I didn’t know anybody in Worcester. I don’t think
they had but two colored families there.”

Regrettably,
this was a common practice in a “separate but equal” society that tolerated
segregation. Typically, black neighborhoods throughout America would find
accommodations for traveling musicians, actors, and other entertainers. When
there were no hotels, people of the community took in the weary travelers
whether it was a Duke, a Count, or a Queen.

Josephson
said that McGhee didn’t get to sleep until late that night after the incident
and was in no mood to parse words the next day. “When Charlie asked me what
happened, I said, ‘Man, you don’t look out for me. I didn’t have any
reservation here. I had to stay out all night trying to find a place to sleep.”

McGhee
added that Barnet to his credit “got mad and fired his manager. Charlie was a
nice guy as far as nice guys go.”

Josephson
noted that the bandleader was actually ahead of his time when came to race
relations. “In fact, he was one of the earliest white musicians to integrate
his band with black performers. In addition to Holland and McGhee, he hired vocalist
Lena Horne, trombonist Trummy Young, and bassist Oscar Pettiford – all in the
early 1940s.”

Charlie Barnet

Peanuts Holland

“I had a
ball with Charlie,” McGhee said, “even though some of the situations weren’t too
nice. We didn’t have problems in some cities that were mixed. They had a
colored guy in there before me -- Peanuts Holland (also a trumpeter), but when
they hired me I was the only colored guy in the band. I really didn’t know too
much about traveling with a white band. I knew it was a little different; I
didn’t know it was that much different.”

Josephson
commented that “the ‘difference’ manifests itself when the band checked into
hotels. Usually the band’s manager would make special arrangements to
accommodate McGhee, but sometimes the manager would sometimes forget that one
of the band members was black.”

Chances
are McGhee found refuge that night in Laurel/Clayton neighborhood, an
Afro-American enclave with a longstanding tradition of being welcoming. It was
also the home of notable black and white musicians, including Wendell and
Ray Culley, John and Jaki Byard, Howard Jefferson, Barney Price, Reggie Walley,
and many others. Before the construction of the 290 expressway ripped its heart
out, it was the center of Worcester’s black community.

Plymouth lobby

It was
also less than a mile from the Plymouth Theater where McGhee was performing.
Whether he ever made it to this safe haven or not it’s anyone’s guess. In any
case, the incident that happened here in Worcester unfortunately had a lasting effect
on this American jazz artist.